Beat Today’s Connections: Essential Hints and Clues for November 3
November 3’s NYT Connections is here: 16 words, four hidden themes, and a fresh color-coded brain-bender. Need a nudge? Grab today’s hints and clues to keep your streak alive.
Stuck on today's NYT Connections and feeling the brain fog roll in? No shame. Here are some gentle nudges, and if you want to check your work, the full set of answers for Saturday, November 3 is down below.
Quick refresher
Connections hands you 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four based on a shared theme. Each group is color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the easiest, purple is the toughest. If you get jammed, the game offers in-app nudges — and I've got hints here too.
Today's board (Nov 3)
Jumbo Shrimp, Sea Monkey, Lite-brite, Pick-Up Sticks, Water Wings, Whoopee Cushion, Maraschino Cherry, Stop Sign, Dark Horse, Funky Chicken, Jigsaw Puzzle, Lego Set, Balloon Animal, Bouncy Castle, Clown Nose, Fire Engine.
Hints (from easiest to toughest)
Yellow: Think apple-colored stuff.
Green: Things tied to one of the classical elements — specifically, air.
Blue: Games or kits that come with a lot of little pieces to assemble or manipulate.
Purple: Phrases that end with animal names.
Answers for Saturday, November 3
- Yellow — Things that are red: Clown Nose, Fire Engine, Maraschino Cherry, Stop Sign
- Green — Things filled with air: Balloon Animal, Bouncy Castle, Water Wings, Whoopee Cushion
- Blue — Things with a lot of pieces: Jigsaw Puzzle, Lego Set, Lite-brite, Pick-Up Sticks
- Purple — Ending with animals: Dark Horse, Funky Chicken, Jumbo Shrimp, Sea Monkey
How to approach it
Today's grid is a little trickier than average, but once you spot the obvious set (the red things are a gimme), everything loosens up. I like to yank the slam-dunk group first, then shuffle the leftovers until patterns pop: all the floaty/airy items fit nicely, the piece-heavy toys slot together, and the animal-tail phrases clean up what's left.